Panacea
by htffan951
Summary: There are many things that people would consider, wrong with the world. Spyro just happens to be one of those things. He has been beaten, he's been bruised, and he has been tormented by his own thoughts. The question is however, is he willing to face his demons as well as some new challenges, to save the one he loves the most? (Sequel to Mistreated)
1. Chapter 1

**At long last the first chapter to "Panacea" is finally out. I would like to apologies for keeping you guys waiting so long for this story. I would also like to quickly say to everyone who read my other story "To Say Goodbye" that I am sorry for the multiple punctuation errors, and for the beginning. For some reason Fanfiction decided to delete the introduction to the story, but I fixed it and most if not all the punctuation errors.**

**Enough of me blabbering, you didn't come here to hear me talk. So with that said, Enjoy.**

Birds were chirping as they flew across the sky, excited to start a new day, while a little breeze blew through the trees. The sun was only just beginning to rise above the mountains, giving the sky an orangey glow. Truly, anyone would find this morning to be magnificent.

Well, almost everyone, that is. Deep within the enchanted forest, a group hid from the search parties looking for a dragon with purple scales. This group was comprised of two cheetahs and two adult dragons. The cheetahs were both male while one of the dragons was female and the other was male with scales the color of amethyst.

The search parties pursued this purple dragon because of the murder of a young dragon by the name of Blast, who had been killed six years ago. The name of the purple dragon was Spyro.

The dragoness with onyx-black scales, known as Cynder, looked up at the skies to see if the coast was clear for the time being. When she couldn't find a single soul up in the air, she used her shadow element to sink into the ground. She swiftly moved across the forest. When she came across a large tree, she emerged from the shades and faced the rest of her group.

With a nod of her head, her companions registered that the area was safe and began to run towards a large mountain that towered over the forest, using the other trees as cover.

Spyro, Cynder, and their cheetah allies, Hunter and one known only as the Hermit, found themselves hiding from the search parties quite often, for they had to relocate to a new home every few weeks. Even though the search parties were only looking for Spyro, everyone in the group had their own unique reason to follow the fugitive.

Hunter went with him because he wanted to help his friends whenever they needed it. They were his only family. He had left his village because of his tribes increasingly xenophobic actions and policies.

The Hermit only came with because he made a promise to an infamous purple dragon named Malefor to keep of his daughter, Cynder, alive. Cynder was born with a rare illness that would kill her if she did not take a special medicine made by the Hermit every couple months.

The reason for Cynder to follow Spyro was because the two were unofficial mates. The two admitted their love for one another about six years ago, the same day they escaped Warfang and everyone who ever harmed them. In that time together their love had only grown stronger.

As the small group ran through the forest, they came to an immediate stop when they heard the sound of wings flapping. Quickly, everyone ran under the nearest tree and crouched down, trying to blend in with their surroundings as they waited for the enemy dragons to pass by. Once the dragons' wing beats were no longer audible, Spyro and his companions ran towards the mountains once again.

After a while, the four of them managed to reach the mountain's base, and began to search for a cave to call a home for a short while. This, however, didn't take long as soon they found one large enough for them to all fit comfortably. Upon entering the cave, the group sat down, and decided to rest from there long journey.

After about a minute of total silence, Hunter asked, "So who volunteers to keep watch this morning?"

Everyone stayed quiet. None of them really wanted to keep watch, for they were all still tired from there five hour journey. The silence was broken when Cynder said, "I guess I will take watch. The rest of you get some rest."

Cynder then stood up and sat down next to the entrance of the cave. While Hunter and the Hermit tried to get some sleep, Spyro decided to join Cynder at the entrance.

"Shouldn't you be getting some rest?" asked Cynder, surprised to see Spyro sit down next to her.

"Probably," said Spyro with a yawn. "But I figured I will stay awake a while longer. Besides, you could use some beauty sleep yourself. You are as tired as the rest of us."

"Are you saying that I'm not as pretty when I don't get some sleep?" asked Cynder jokingly, her brow raised as her gaze shifted to Spyro.

"Of course not, Cynder, I think you are the most elegant dragoness around," said Spyro as he shifted closer to her until their sides were touching.

"I'm the only dragoness around," said Cynder sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," said Spyro as he laid himself down and curled his tail around hers.

The two remained silent for a short while until Cynder asked forlornly, "Spyro, do you ever think we will ever be at peace? You know, a time where we don't have to relocate ever once and a while, and a time where we don't have to worry about someone finding us?"

"You know, Cynder, I don't know if that will ever happen, though someday I wish..." said Spyro, yawning between words as he spoke. "That...it…. would..."

"I hope so. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of all of this. I just want to be able to live knowing that I don't need to worry about anything or anyone, and maybe even possibly"

The following morning, Spyro was jolted awake as the ground started to shake. As he stood up, his eye widened as he realized that it was an earthquake. Waking up herself, Cynder stood up as well. Cynder felt some pebbles fall onto her muzzle which caused her to looking up at the ceiling, and saw several large cracks appear above them. Acting quickly, Cynder shoved Spyro away just before the ceiling collapse.

He stumbled forward as the ground slowly ceased to shake. When he turned around to face were he and Cynder once slept he saw a wall made up of debris and large rocks blocking him off from the entrance of the cave. He started to worry about Hunter and the Hermit, hoping that they didn't get hurt during the cave in.

"Cynder, can you help me remove these rocks?" asked Spyro.

There was, however, no reply from his love. Confused, Spyro said "Cynder?" while looking around his half of the cave, only to find that she was nowhere in sight.

"CYNDER!" shouted Spyro, worried that Cynder had been killed when the cave collapsed. His breath quickened as his heart began to beat faster and faster. Slowly, he realized that panicking wouldn't help him in this situation, so he pushed such thoughts aside. He quickly ran over to the wall of rocks and debris.

Hoping to get a reply this time he tried called her name again. "Cynder, can you hear me?"

There was no reply from the female dragon. He then tried to call out to one of the cheetahs.

"Hunter, Hermit, can any of you guys hear me?" shouted Spyro.

It was faint, but Spyro heard Hunter say "Yes, I can hear you. I am alright."

Spyro then heard the Hermit say "I am alright as well, but my leg is trapped under some rocks. I think it might be sprained or worse. You know, now that I think about it this is actually not the first time I've broke my leg. The first time I broke my leg was way back when I was…"

"Hermit, save your stories for another time. Right now let's just remove these rocks," interrupted Hunter as he approached the Hermit. Before he reached the Hermit, Hunter noticed something. Cynder was nowhere to be seen.

"We can't seem to find Cynder. Is she on the other side with you?" asked Hunter.

Upon hearing this, Spyro's panic levels went into overdrive. Without hesitation, Spyro began to remove the rocks as quick as possible.

When the two cheetahs didn't hear Spyro reply, they listened harder and instead they heard Spyro removing rocks at a quick pace.

"Spyro, is everything alright? Where is Cynder?" asked the Hermit, growing anxious.

With panic ringing clearly in his voice, Spyro shouted back. "She's trapped under this wall of rocks. Please help me!"

Hearing this, Hunter ran over to the wall of rocks and began to remove the rocks that were in his way, while the Hermit did his best to remove the debris on his leg on his own.

Working from the top down, Spyro worked as quickly as his body would let him, as he removed more and more rocks. He gained some hope, when he removed a small boulder and uncovered one of Cynder's back paws. More determined than ever, Spyro removed more and more of the stones near the bottom. Slowly he uncovered more and more of her body. It worried him when he saw several clearly broken bones as well as a small pool of blood form around her.

Just as he was about to completely uncover her, the rocks above her began to shift, as the supporting rocks beneath them were removed. Just before it caved in again, Spyro stepped over her body, and used his own to keep most of the rocks from falling on top of her again.

He dug his claws into the dirt flooring, and barred his teeth in pain as he felt some of the pointed edges from the rocks on his back dig deep into his hide. To help support the weight on his back Spyro used what little of his earth element he knew how to use, and created a crude stone pillar next to him.

With a grunt Spyro said "Hunter, could you please hurry up? I found Cynder, but I'm holding up the ceiling so it won't fall on her." He let out another grunt as he felt a small amount of blood run down his side as the rocks dug deeper into him.

"I'm not can keep this up," said Spyro as his legs started to wobble. The pillar beside him began to crack under the weight of the roof as well.

While Hunter and the Hermit removed more and more rocks to the best of their ability, Spyro did his best to examine Cynder from the angle he was at. He couldn't see most of her, but from what he could see, he could tell that she was still breathing, much to his relief. As his legs grew more and more sore by the second, Hunter managed to remove one of the rocks and saw Spyro standing over Cynder.

Seeing them, Hunter spoke soothingly. "Just hold out a little long Spyro, we are almost there."

As more and more of the debris was removed, he heard Cynder groan in pain.

"Please be alright, please be alright," Spyro begged to himself.

Soon a clear path was made to the other side of the cave.

"I'm sorry, Cynder, but this will hurt a little," said Hunter as he grabbed hold of her, as quickly as he could, and as painlessly as possible, he pulled her out from under the debris. Once she was in the sunlight, Spyro could see more of the injury's that covered her body. Spyro then took a deep breath before bracing to move out from under his load. Pain run throughout his nervous system as he felt the rocks around him rake across his back leaving several long, but thankfully not deep, puncture wounds. He fell to the ground with a groan as he made it to the other side. Without the dragon's support, the stone pillar crumbled to pieces.

Exhausted, Spyro watched as the Hermit limped over to Cynder and examined her body.

"Is Cynder going to be alright?" asked Hunter. Spyro waited for a reply from the Hermit, but instead he stayed silent. When he finished examining Cynder, the Hermit then quickly limped over to his bag, and removed some rubble that fell upon it during the earthquake. The Hermit then pulled out some bandages and tossed them to Hunter.

"Bandage her, will you." said the Hermit, issuing more of an order than a request.

As he continued to browse through his bag, Hunter wrapped Cynder's wounds; however, he stopped when he heard the Hermit mumble "Shit."

"What's wrong?" asked Hunter.

"This is bad, this is really bad," mumbled the Hermit some more.

"HERMIT, WHAT IS WRONG!" shouted Spyro, both with worry, and annoyance in his voice.

"This is what is wrong," said the Hermit as he pulled out shards of glass from his bag. "Most of my vials are broken, and several of them contained the medicine that would've healed Cynder's wounds."

"Well, then, make some more," said Spyro.

"I can't simply make these things with a flick of a wrist, boy. It takes time to make them, and by the looks of Cynder's condition, I'd say that she has about a few more hours before she bleeds out," said the Hermit.

"What are you talking about? She looks like she just has several broken bones is all," said Spyro more worried than ever.

"I'm afraid it is much worse than that, Spyro," said Hunter, as he finished up bandaging Cynder.

While the Hermit kept searching through his bag, Spyro walked over to Cynder to see what Hunter was talking about.

"See this large lump underneath Cynder's scales?" asked Hunter as he pointed to a mound that slightly protruded from under her scales. After Spyro nodded, Hunter said "I've seen this before on another cheetah in my old tribe. This lump means that she is internally bleeding, and if you look closely you can see she as several more across her body."

"How can you be sure it's not just a bone, or some like that?" asked Spyro.

Carefully, Hunter peeled back one of the scales that covered one of the lumps. Instead of the pinkish flesh that was normally behind a dragons scale, there was a blackish-blue lump. "This is a sign of internal bleeding, Spyro," said Hunter.

Spyro stayed quiet until he asked "Is there any way to stop it?"

"Well the best way to do that would be to use some red crystals. However, I didn't see any on our way here, and we don't have any left over." said Hunter.

Spyro's brain began to race as he tried to think of a way to save Cynder. "Is there any village or town we can take her to?"

"I'm afraid there isn't any form of civilizing nearby Spyro," said Hunter. Hearing this, the Hermit gazed over his shoulder with a questionable look on his face as he looked at hunter. Returning back to searching through his bag, Hunter continued to say "The only remaining way to stop the bleeding would be to fix it manually."

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"With this," said the Hermit as he pulled a small knife out of his bag. "It would be better if I had a smaller blade, but this cutting knife will have to do."

"Wait, why do you have a knife, and what do you plan on using it for?" asked Spyro panicky. He had a sinking feeling that he knew the cheetah's intention.

"I have this knife to cut herbs. And for what I plan on using it for, we will need it to perform surgery on Cynder," said the Hermit.

"Surgery!" exclaimed Spyro. "Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"I'm afraid not, Spyro. We have no red crystals, and there is no town or city nearby to get a doctor. I'm sorry Spyro but this is the only way," said Hunter with a sad tone in his voice.

"I'm afraid that is not all of our problems," said the Hermit.

Spyro looked at the grizzled old cheetah with a worried face, as he wondered what else could possibly be wrong.

"Before we left our last hideaway, I made Cynder's medicine. Sadly, its container broke along with the others. On the plus side, I have most of the ingredients to make a new one, but we are missing the main ingredient. It's been a few months since she last took her medicine so she will have to take it soon. Which bring me to our problem; I need Hunter here to help me with the surgery, leaving only one person to go to Warfang." He said, pausing a bit before sighing, continuing, "And, unfortunately, that would be you, Spyro."

**And there you have it, the first chapter to my new story. I do hope you all enjoyed it. I do however have some bad news and it is VERY IMPORTANT. I won't be able to update this as quickly as I did Mistreated for three reasons.**

**1- ****School. In my opinion, School always come first so I will be working on homework when I can**

**2- ****I got an editor to help me and EquinoxWolf with this story so I have to wait on the two of them before I can post this story.**

**3- ****I am also co-authoring a story with twilight dragon god, so from time to time I will be working on his story. For those who wish to read it, I have a link to twilight dragon god's profile and you can find the story from there.**

**Finally I would like to thank both my co-author EquinoxWolf and my new editor St33lStrif 3 for all of their help. I will try to post Chapter two as soon as possible. As always please give me an honest review. If you hated it, please tell me what you didn't like about it, and vice versa. Have a great day everyone.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again everyone, I Just want to say that Im sorry for the April fool's joke I played. Don't worry I do not plan on giving up on FanFiction any time soon. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

"Me?!" questioned Spyro. The hermit's words left him confused and alarmed. "But I can't go back! I'm a wanted criminal, remember? I'll be killed as soon as I reach the gates."

"Calm down, Spyro. Everything is going to be fine. I have a plan, so don't you worry about that," said the Hermit. With the utmost care, the Hermit then started to empty out his bag, carefully pulling out several glass vials as well as a small pouch and other items. Once he emptied the bag, he flipped it upside down and shook the glass shards out of it, along with a mess of spilt concoctions. Once that was done, he handed the bag to Spyro. "Now, I need you to go back into the forest and bring me as many red berries as you can find."

"We don't have time for this, Hermit!" shouted Spyro angrily. "I can go pick your stupid berries some other time! Right now we need to worry about Cynder!"

"Yes, yes, I am well aware of the current situation, but it is all a part of my plan. Just go out there and do as I said," said the Hermit with a hint of impatience in his voice.

Spyro stared at the cheetah, with rage clear in his eyes. He still thought that it was meaningless; however, he knew that the Hermit wouldn't do something without a good reason for it, so Spyro took the bag and looped the strap around his neck. He then turned around and ran out of the cave, eager to complete this task as quickly as possible.

Both Hunter and the Hermit watched as Spyro ran out of sight. Once Spyro could no longer be seen, the Hermit turned to Hunter and asked, "Why did you lie to him?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Hunter as he looked away from the Hermit.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. There is another village nearby, and you know it. Why would you lie to him about that and make him worry?"

Hunter let out a sigh. "Your right. I did lie to him, but I didn't want to worry him any more then he already is. Yes there is a village nearby, but it's my old tribe."

"That doesn't answer my question, why did you lie about that? Either one of us could just go there and ask for help, can we not?"

"No, we can't. My old tribe hates dragons, and they kill every one that steps foot into their village. Besides I can't go back there anyway. I was banished from my tribe. If I were to return there, I would meet a similar fate as they would."

The Hermit stood there in silence, thinking over what Hunter said. After a short while he said, "So what are you planning to do then?"

"You're no doctor, not a healing one in any case, so there is no way that you can treat Cynder's wounds without causing her serious harm," said Hunter as he stood up and walked to the cave entrance. "So I plan on going back there. I know a healer there, and hopefully I can convince them to help. All I need you to do is to keep her alive until I come back."

"And what if you don't come back? What then?" asked the Hermit sternly.

Hunter just looked at other cheetah for a second, before turning around and running out of the cave.

_Damn it all, why do things have to become so complicated?_ Thought the Hermit. He let out a sigh before approaching Cynder. He opened one of the vials on the ground and poured a little into one of Cynder's minor wounds.

About an hour later, Spyro returned with his bag full of red berries. Removing the strap from around his neck, Spyro dropped it on the ground. "How is she doing?" he asked worriedly.

"She's doing better. However, she is still in a bad condition." He said. He then leaned in, and whispered, "She is awake, though. Why don't you go talk to her?" He then picked up the bag and poured all of the berries into a large wooden bowl. He poured some water into the bowl as well, before taking a rock and began crushing the berries.

While the Hermit was doing that, Spyro walked over to Cynder and sat down in front of her. It filled him with overwhelming relief to see her move her head towards him. Her eyes had lost some of their luster, but there was still life left in them.

"Hey, Spyro... how are you doing?" asked Cynder weakly before coughing up some blood onto the floor.

"I should be the one asking you that," he replied. He couldn't help but let a few tears form in his eyes.

Noticing this, Cynder placed one paw on top of Spyro's and said, "There's no need to cry, Spyro. I know that I'm going to be alright. I have complete faith in you guys. Everything's going to be okay." Cynder then let out a yawn and half way closed her eyes, before saying "I'm so tired, though."

Spyro's eyes widened as tears began rolling down his muzzle. With a worried tone in his voice, he begged, "Please don't die, Cynder. I don't know what I'd do without you!"

Cynder rolled her eyes. "I'm not dying yet, you big lug, I'm just tired is all. I need some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah... Okay," said Spyro, choking back tears.

"Good," said Cynder as she yawned again, before falling asleep.

Spyro sat by Cynder as he slowly stopped crying. When he wiped the tears from his eyes, he stood up and walked over to the Hermit to see if he was finished with whatever he was doing. Looking over the cheetah's shoulder, Spyro saw that the berries had become a paste-like substance. The Hermit did not acknowledge the dragon's presence and continued to crush and mix the content inside the bowl with a rock.

"What are you doing?" asked Spyro with a tilt of his head.

"It's an old technique my father taught me when I was young. It is part of tradition the in my tribe for the men and women to paint their fur," said the Hermit.

"Why did you do that?" asked Spyro.

"We did it because it made us all look alike, and as my father told me it makes us all the same inside and out."

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces clicked together in Spyro's mind. "So your plan is to paint my scales?"

"That would be correct," the Hermit nodded as he finished making the paint. "Now hold still." The old cat then stuck his hand into the paste and pulled out a small fistful of it. Walking over to Spyro, he began rubbing the paint in his hand across the dragon's back. Spyro slightly shivered from the cool contact as the paste covered his scales and seeped into the crevices between. The Hermit continued to smear the mixture on Spyro's torso until all of the purple was gone, leaving a nice even red coat. The Hermit then moved down and began painting Spyro's tail. Once that was done, the Hermit told Spyro to close his eyes and began painting his head.

When Spyro's face was as crimson as a tomato, the Hermit scooped up the last of the paint and started applying it to Spyro's only wing, and stub. "Now Spyro, you need to be careful when you're walking around Warfang," he warned. "This stuff will come off easy if it gets wet, so stay clear of any water source. Also, just because you have paint covering your purple scales it doesn't mean others won't recognize you. So don't make any eye contact, don't talk to anyone, and if you see anyone you know, avoid them."

"Alright, but what do you need me to do there?" asked Spyro.

"I have a friend who works at a store called Aureate Dragon. Talk to the man behind the counter and give this to him." The Hermit then handed Spyro the pouch he saw earlier. "Also tell him that you wish to speak to Mr. Dylan."

Spyro stared at the Hermit, then at the pouch in his paw. "Do you know if this plan will work?"

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Spyro," said the Hermit. "Now get going. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back."

Spyro hung the pouch around his neck and left the cave.

* * *

**In Avalar**

As Hunter got closer to his old tribe, he couldn't help but think what life was like back then. During the war against Malefor, several cheetah tribes were demolished by his forces. Because of this, the chief of his tribe Prowless grew fearful of Malefor and ordered every soldier and guard in the tribe to kill any and every dragon they find, no matter how young and innocent they are. What shocked Hunter the most was that everyone else in his tribe agreed with Prowless and that they followed this order without a care. That was how great their fear was, and it saddened the exiled cheetah to his very core.

He pushed these memories aside once the village came into view. Using the trees as cover, he snuck closer to the wooden barricade that surrounded the village. Circling around, Hunter found a single tree with a branch that hung above the wall. After quickly climbing it, Hunter waited for the coast to be clear before jumping down.

He landed with a small thud, but thankfully no one heard him. Hunter ran from building to building, hiding in the shadows the huts casted, as he searched for the place he used to call home. Soon it came into view. His old home was nothing special, but it still held several precious memories.

Finding an open window, Hunter jumped inside. For the most part, everything was as Hunter remembered it. He continued to walk around, lost in thought as more and more memories came back to him. He came back to reality however as he felt the tip of a pointed object being placed against his back, followed by a voice.

"Put your hands in the air. Try anything and you will take your last breath," said a female voice in a threatening tone.

Hunter let out a sigh of relief when he heard the voice. "You forgot what I look like already?" asked Hunter.

"Hunter?" questioned the female, shocked to hear his voice.

Hunter felt the blade of the knife the female had be removed from his back as he turned around, In front of him, stood a beautiful leopard, wearing a white outfit. As soon as they saw each other's face they embraced in a hug.

"I've missed you Hunter," said the cheetah.

"I've missed you too Galena."

**So what did you guys think? I really would like to know your guys opinions on this story so please tell me what you think regardless to how negative it might be. I will try to get the next chapter posted as soon as possible.**


	3. Chapter 3

The two cheetahs stood still, hugging one another and both happy to see the other once more. Once they finished, they moved apart and began to stare into one another's eyes.

Hunter placed his paw on Galena's cheek and said in a sweet voice, "You're still as beautiful as I remember you."

Galena closed her eyes, enjoying his touch. Suddenly, Hunter felt pain erupted from his gut as Galena punched him. Hunter stumbled backwards gasping for air as the wind got knocked out of him. Galena opened her eyes again, only instead of the love he saw in them, it was replaced by pure rage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing back here?!" Galena demanded.

It took Hunter a moment to breathe properly one more, and when he did he said innocently "What? Can't a man visit his wife every once in a while?"

"I am no longer your wife, Hunter. I forfeited that up years ago," said Galena as she turned her back from him, too disgusted to even look at him.

"Well, maybe if you and the rest of this forsaken village didn't believe in Prowless' idiotic beliefs, maybe I would have still been here!" responded Hunter with increasing anger.

"Oh, so now I'm an idiot for what I believe in, am I? If I remember correctly, wasn't it not you who told me to always follow my heart?" said Galena as she got up in his face.

"Yes, in fact I did. I remember saying that on our wedding day, as you started to have cold feet! However I never imagined that your heart would lead you to stab me in the back like everyone else!" spat Hunter back at her.

"So what you're saying now is that it was a mistake in marrying me? And here I thought you loved me at one point in time," said Galena angrily but also slightly hurt. She turned around once more and walked away from Hunter a bit.

Hunter sighed; he never did enjoy arguing her. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, only for Galena to shove his arms off of her and say, "Don't touch me." Turning her body to face him, Galena raised her knife one more and she pointed it towards him. "Tell me, what the hell do you think you're doing here?" she said in spite.

Hunter sighed again. "I need your help,"

"Ha, and what makes you think I will ever help you again?"

Hunter then looked at her with determination in his eyes and said, "Galena please, a good friend of mine is out there dying, while her mate is off risking his life to save her. But I don't know if he'll make it in time. You're the only one I know who can help her."

Galena lowered the knife. She then looked away, not wanting to be entranced by his eyes before saying in a dark tone, "So what? There are plenty of people out there, who lost the ones that they love. What makes these two any different?"

"Because these two have endured more suffering than any decent person deserves. Because their love for each other is the only thing that keeps either one of them going. Because if one of them died, I can guarantee that the other would follow close behind without a moment's hesitation. And because these two people are my friends, and I'll be damned if I don't do what I can to help them."

"So, now it's my problem? All because, their lives have gone to shit, and just because they are your friends, it's now my problem?" stated Galena.

Hunter felt his heart sink, as the possibility of Galena's help was diminishing as well. "Please Galena, just help them," he said in a quiet voice. Growing desperate, Hunter grabbed her arm which held the knife, and brought the knife up to his throat. "Kill me if you have to but please, just help them!" said Hunter in a much louder voice.

Galena was shocked by this turn of events. She looked into his eyes, and she could see all the sadness, the grief, and the anger that was in them. She hated that look, so she looked away, but she could still feel his stare. "And what then?" asked Galena. "If I were to kill you right here and now, what then?"

"Please Galena, as just one final favor please do this, I beg of you. Don't do it for me, do it for them. You know what it is like to lose the one you love, do you really want someone else to go through the same thing?" said Hunter.

Galena clenched her fist when he said that. She then yanked her arm out of his grasp, and threw the knife aside. "Fine, I'll help you, but promise me this; once this is all over, I don't ever what to see your face here again," she said with anger in her voice, but Hunter could tell that there was some sympathy in there as well.

"Thank you," said Hunter softly.

"Save your gratitude for when I help your friends. Now, how did you get in?" asked Galena.

"I climbed up a tree, and jumped over the wall from a branch," said Hunter.

Galena sighed, knowing that it was going to be harder to get him out of the village. She then stepped away from Hunter, and started too walked towards the door. She then said "If we are going to leave here, you need to put your hood up and keep your head down. We don't want anyone knowing that you're here."

Hunter did as he was told, and put his hood up.

The two then left the hut and walked through the village. As they walked Hunter noticed that Galena would wave, or say hello to some of her neighbors or friends as they walked by. Hunter recognized several of them, and a few of them he was friends with, or, had been friends with. Soon the gates that separated the village from the outside world came into view. Before they even could reach the gate, however, Galena stopped as they heard a voice call out to her.

"Hey Galena, wait up!"

The two looked in the direction of where the voice came from and saw that an orange cheetah, wearing an orange and green tunic, approach them.

In a panic, Galena whispered to Hunter, "Follow my lead."

Once the other cheetah ran up to them he asked "Where are you off to, sweet heart?"

_Sweet heart?_ thought Hunter.

Galena then wrapped her arms around the other cheetah's neck, and gave him a small kiss. Hunter felt his heart shatter when he saw this. She said, "Nice to see you to Meadow, I'm just helping this guy."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Meadow as Galena stepped away from him.

"He's sick, and I need to get more herbs from the forest to help him. He offered to help, so he is tagging along," said Galena.

With that said, Hunter let out some fake coughs, pretending to be sick.

"Well you're in good paws here my friend, Galena is one of the best doctors in all of the realms," said Meadow. Meadow began to stare at hooded cheetah. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like he has seen him before. "Say, do I know you? You seem familiar," said Meadow, as he rubbed his chin while he pondered.

"Oh, no, you must be thinking of someone else," said Galena ,slightly panicking. However, Meadow didn't notice this. "Chief Prowless brought him to me. He said he is from another village."

"Oh? Which one are you from?" Meadow asked curiously.

"Actually, I think it's time we get going! Those herbs aren't going to find themselves!" said Galena worriedly. Hunter pretended to cough again.

"Well, I'm deeply sorry dear. I didn't mean to distract you," said Meadow, before kissing her forehead. "You take care now." With that said, Meadow walked away.

Hunter and Galena continued their way through the village uninterrupted. When they reached the gates, one of the guards halted her, asking her where she was going. In response, she told them that she was going to find more supplies for some medicine, and that the cheetah next to her was there to help. The guards then opened the gates, and let them pass.

The two then began to walk through the forest. Once they were far away from the cheetah village, Hunter asked Galena the question that he has been dying to ask. "So how long have you and Meadow been going out?" asked Hunter in a slightly depressed tone.

"A little over a year now, we are actually engaged now," said Galena.

"Oh," said Hunter even more depressed. Soon an awkward silence fell upon they as they walked several yards without uttering a single word. "I didn't see anything that belonged to someone else when I entered your home," said Hunter more as a question then a statement.

"He hasn't moved in yet. We wanted to wait until after the wedding before doing so," replied Galena. The two of them fell quiet once more.

The silence was then broken again when Galena said, "Look, Hunter, what we had was special, but after what happened… It was time that I moved on, and Meadow has been there for me for a long time now. I would suggest you should just move on yourself."

Hunter didn't respond to this for another few yards. "Does he make you happy?" said Hunter in a sad tone.

Galena was reluctant to respond to this but she said "Yeah, he does."

Hunter only nodded his head. The rest of their journey was silent.

Back at the Cheetah village, Meadow was still pondering over who the hooded cheetah was. As he wandered around the village, he came across Chief Prowless. Running up to him, Meadow said, "Good afternoon, Chief Prowless."

Turning around, Chief Prowless looked at Meadow. "Good afternoon to you, too, Meadow. How is everything going with Galena?" inquired Chief Prowless, joy evident in his voice.

"Things are spectacular! I could not ask for a more wonderful bride!" said Meadow, smiling widely

"That is good to hear! Now, is there anything I can help you with?" asked Chief Prowless.

"Actually, yes, there is. Galena said that you brought her a patient from another village. He seems very familiar, but I can't put my paw on it. Could you tell me who he is?"

Chief Prowless gave Meadow a confused look. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Meadow, but I didn't bring anyone to her. In fact, I haven't left the village all day."

Meadow's facial expression went from joyful to worried as he heard this. "But she was with the other male when she told me this… you don't think she's…" said Meadow in a panic before he was interrupted by Chief Prowless, who said,

"Of course I don't think that! Galena would never dream of doing such a thing. Something else must be going on," Chief Prowless said in a stern tone. "If it would help, I can send someone to track them down for you."

"No," said Meadow quickly. "She is my wife to be. I must take care of this myself."

Chief Prowless gave him a nod of approval before saying, "I wish you the best of luck."

Meadow then ran back to his home and grabbed his bow and quiver full of arrows just in case things turned for the worse. Slinging the quiver over his shoulder, he ran towards the gate. He told the guards there that he was in search of Galena. Thankfully for him, one of the guards pointed him in the direction they were going as he opened the gate.

He ran out a few yards, before looking for their tracks. Unfortunately for him, the ground was stiff, meaning there were no foot prints to be found. Still determined, Meadow walked in the general direction the guard gave him, keeping an eye out for any tracks, hoping that he would find her before something happened.

* * *

**Warfang**

After spending half a day of running and walking, Spyro made it to Warfang. Before he could pass through the massive gates, two armed moles that guarded the gate halted him.

"What business do you have here?" asked one of the guards.

Spyro didn't respond, as his mind as racing around, looking for an answer. It didn't help him much as his eyes kept on drifting upwards to the spear that the guards held, which made him worry that his disguise would fail.

Noticing Spyro's panic state as well as his glances to their weapons the other guard said "Listen kid, we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to know why you want inside."

This put Spyro's mind more at easy, but he still had troubles thinking of an excuse. Then it hit him. Still not certain if it would work, Spyro said in a nervous voice "I'm here in place of my father. He is sick and couldn't make it here today. He said that he was meeting with someone and asked me to take his place."

The guards looked at Spyro for a second, not saying a word. Spyro felt his heart beat faster and faster, until it felt like it was going to burst. Then one of the guards shrugged and shouted "open the gates."

Spyro mentally sighed with relief. Before he could walk through, however, one of the guards asked, "Hey, kid, what happened to your wing?"

Spyro froze once more, not sure what to say. "The... um... purple dragon cut it off," said Spyro, not really thinking of what he was saying.

"Oh," said one of the guards sympathetically. "I'm terribly sorry to hear about that. Tell King Flame about that, since you might be the last person who saw that purple monster. Maybe he could help you out."

Spyro nodded in response and walked through the gate. Spyro began to wander around Warfang, looking for the Aureate Dragon. While wandering around, he heard a crash inside one of the building he was near. Suddenly, a large green dragon was thrown out of the building. The dragon landed near Spyro with a thud. Despite what the Hermit told him, Spyro ran over and helped the dragon up.

Upon closer examination of the green dragon, however, Spyro began to panic as he found he recognized him.

"Thank you," said Terrador.

**Well what do you guys think of this chapter? I would love to hear what you guys think will happen next. Once again I would like to thank St33lStrif3 for editing this chapter and EquinoxWolf for co-authoring.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone, I have some bad news for all of you. Lately I can't seem to sit down and plan out this story, and most of the time I start thinking of another story that I want to write. Don't you guys worry; I'm NOT GIVING UP on this story. I am just putting it on hold. I don't know when I will work on it again, but it won't be for a while. I am terribly sorry to disappoint all of you guys. I would like to tell you guys that I will be working on this other story I mentioned earlier, but sadly I only have small fragments of it in my head. So I am sad to say that I won't be able to post any new stories or chapters anytime soon. I know that I'm failing a lot of you out there, and I do wish I could make it up to you guys. Again I am truly sorry to tell you all this. I hope you all have a wonderful day.**


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